Product development specialists Meso have had an article published in the new Innovator Scotland Magazine - for Scotland's innovative business, science and technology community. The piece, written by Meso's Design Director Daniel Kane, discusses when to Design for Manufacture (DFM) based on Meso's extensive experience in this field. 

The full article text is below the break.

Design for Manufacture

Let's face it, there's little point in a great design that can't be made into a great product – one that ultimately delivers a commercial return.

The good news is that having a sound Design for Manufacturing (DFM) process can help turn those great designs into commercially successful products.

DFM is a broad term but, in simple terms, it means designing in such a way that the end result can be effectively produced, assembled, maintained and sold. If used as an integrated part of the design process, the result will be better products that get to market faster and sell well – 'the Holy Trinity of design' you might say!

Working in product development, I have the benefit of designing products for clients across a diverse range of sectors, from medicine to consumer electronics. For me, this diversity is the key to good design as it provides exposure to an array of different manufacturing techniques. I am by no means an expert in them all, but it goes without saying that an effective DFM process is built on good all round knowledge of manufacturing and assembly practices.

The first step in DFM is choosing the appropriate manufacturing method for the design. There are two ways to look at this: top down or bottom up. From my experience, most projects have adopt a top down approach, starting with the non-technical factors such as cost target and volume required, then worked back to match the most suitable process. For me, this results in the most effective and economical solution.

A bottom-up approach is preferable when product performance is the most important factor. For example, a brief that stipulates both a specific component and an exotic material as mandatory elements to fulfil a particular function is likely to have limited processing options.

Whatever the approach, it is critical to define the manufacturing processes early as these will have a huge impact on your design. Valuable time and money can be wasted if a component has been designed to be CNC machined only to decide that injection moulding is the only way to achieve cost targets at the final review meeting!

This short piece barely scratches the surface of the DFM methodology, but a common sense approach combined with a little background knowledge is the best starting point. As with most areas of design, DFM is not about having all the answers, it's about knowing what questions to ask.

Danny Kane,
Design Director, Meso
www.mesodesign.com